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Thin Concrete Walls: Less than 8cm Thick

Installation into concrete walls is not all the same. Here you can learn about mounting cable trellis systems into thin, concrete surfaces (those under 8cm thick), which you usually encounter in pre-fabricated garages, balcony partition walls of community high-rises, some garden walls, and European-style rubbish cubicles. The outer shells of pre-fabricated buildings, especially in East Germany, are treated separately under Two-Leaf Masonry (cavity walls/double-wall masonry).

Properties of Thin Concrete Walls

The main feature of these structures is that they are almost never recognisable as concrete. For example, with pre-fabricated garages, the very smooth concrete walls are often painted with a granular, neutral colour, to give the effect of having been plastered. Alternatively, the walls can also be made of dyed material, painted in strong colours, stoned, or tiled. This is often referred to as 'lightweight concrete' (see below). Be sure to correctly identify the material of your wall surface before attaching the trellis.

Installing Cable Trellis Systems

For a wall thickness of 8cm and more, our easy and medium construction eco kits are recommended. For thinner walls, the light version is the only possibility among our standard kits.

For a wall thickness less than 7cm, there is a risk of drilling right through the wall! Anything less than 6cm and any rawplugs you choose to insert will protrude, but this can be easily remedied by either trimming the plug so it lies flush with the wall, or replacing it altogether with our small mounts-- WM 0609secured with composite mortar.

 

For heavier plant loads, our medium classic kit is ideal, but in combination with the cross mount WM 10081, which includes a brass rawl plug that will provide extra support. If you opt for this anchor, please let us know (in the comments section of checkout) when you place your order!

 

With these anchors, the shallow drilling depth of only 3.5cm means that hitting rebar is highly unlikely. In lightweight concrete with lower tensile strength, the cross mount WM 10101 is glued at a depth of about 6cm. In exceptional cases (say, if a greater distance between the wall and trellis is desired) one of our heavier anchors can be used- like the WM 12191 (with additional clamping elements) which penetrates the whole wall and is fastened on the other side (see variant 03), or WM 12227 modified as WM 12167 with brass plug. To reduce strain, use 3mm (not thicker) wire rope and when drilling, the hole's diameter should be gradually increased, i.e., in the sequence 6/8/10mm. Please refer to our tips for drilling in concrete!

Steel cables in light construction (WM 06093) on a prefab. garage
Steel cables in light construction (WM 06093) on a prefab garage
Vine trellis on a thin-walled concrete garage, cross holder WM 10081.
Vine trellis on a thin-walled concrete garage, cross holder WM 10081.
Garage with WM 12227 (modified WM 12167), grapevines
Garage with cross mount WM 12227, grapevines
Simple cable trellis system on a concrete fence, WM 06030 with brass plug, grapevine
Simple cable trellis system on a concrete fence
Exceptional case: massive construction on pebbled pre-cast concrete products, gymnasium around 1980, evergreen honeysuckle & rose. The anchor-fittings protrude into the insulation behind this weather shell.
Massive construction on pebbled pre-cast concrete
Wire ropes for greening rubbish containers, cross mount glued to short-shaft WM 10101 in thin-walled concrete
Wire ropes for the greening of rubbish containers, cross mount glued to short-shaft WM 10101 in thin-walled concrete
Heavy construction, 8 cm concrete garage, through-hole PCB mounting with WM 12191 and bolt set, for facade greening with wisteria
Heavy construction for wisteria
WBS-70 pre-fab buildings (old East Germany) with protective weather shell (approx. 5-6 cm thick) and embedded tile, akebia on wire ropes
WBS-70 pre-fab buildings